Greetings, I took my smoker apart as much as I could recently. I use white pine needles as fuel, and they build up a lot of tar and soot. I took the bellows off, cleaned it up, and cleaned out the blower hole. I then took the grate out of the bottom, scraped out the tube from the bellows and scraped out as much "gunk" as I could. I lightly sanded the top edge and the top, so it opened and closed easier. I then rinsed it all out with water and reassembled it. When I fired it up, it worked better than new. It worked so well in fact that it actually set the creosote inside on fire, and burned much like a flue fire! Thinking back, I am lucky it didn't burn through! I have come to believe that the smoker should be cleaned like that several times a year to keep it in good working order. Thanks! Scott Visit the Jefferson County Beekeepers Association web site at: http://JeffersonCoBeekeepers.homestead.com/